A simple sentence in German. German grammar: word order in a German sentence. Types of sentences in German

After we have looked at the conjugation of verbs in the present tense, let's try to make a simple sentence - i.e. a sentence with one base (subject and predicate).

The subject denotes the subject of the action and answers the questions “who?”, “what?”, the predicate, as a rule, denotes the action and answers the question “what does it do?”. Let's consider different types sentences: narrative, negative, interrogative and incentive.

Declarative sentence

A narrative sentence is a sentence that tells about some event, phenomenon or fact. Information in a declarative sentence can be affirmed or refuted, in which case the declarative sentence is considered negative.

So, the word order in a German sentence is usually direct, which means that the subject comes first (who does?), and then the predicate (what does?). For example: Ich (who?) wohne (what is doing?) in Berlin. — I live in Berlin.

In Russian, word order is free, but in German it is fixed, which means that each part of a sentence has its own place.

Remember, the verb in a declarative German sentence Always is in second place.

For example: I lerne Deutsch. — I'm learning German.

Let's give a few more examples. Don't forget about personal verb endings!

Ich esse Brot. - I eat bread.
Wir spielen Tennis. — We are playing tennis.
Er spielt Klavier. — He plays the piano.
Sie kommt morgen. - She comes tomorrow.

Besides direct order words in a declarative sentence, the reverse word order is also possible. Read the examples carefully:

Ich gehe ins Theater heute. — I'm going to the theater today.
Heute gehe ich ins Theater. — Today I’m going to the theater.
Ins Theater gehe ich heute. — I’m going to the theater today.

As you can see, in the first sentence there is a direct word order, in the other two - the reverse. Secondary members of the sentence (in in this case- heute, ins Theater) can come first in a sentence. Verb Always stands on second.

Interrogative sentence

There are several types of interrogative sentences - with a question word (special) and without (general). General question implies a yes or no answer, a special question requires a specific answer - where, when, under what circumstances, etc.

An interrogative sentence without a question word begins with a verb. For example:

Horst du? - Do you hear?
Bist du 18? -Are you eighteen?
Spielt sie Fußball? — Does she play football?

Interrogative sentences with a question word begin with a question word. For example:

Wer ist er? - Who is he?
Wo wohnst du? - Where do you live?
Wie heißen Sie? - What is your name?

Question words in German A little. Here they are:

Wer who
Was that
Wie how
Wann when
Wo where
Whoa where
Woher from (about country or origin)
Warum why
Wofür for what
Welcher (welche, welches; plural - welche) which, which, which; plural - which ones
Wie viel how much

In addition to general and special questions, the German language also has alternative questions - they are asked using the word oder - or. For example: Gehst du Fußball spielen oder gehst du nicht? Are you going to play football or not? Oder can also come at the end of a sentence and be separated by a comma. This does not affect the word order in the question. For example: Gehst du Fußball spielen, oder?

The second option is very often used in colloquial speech because it is very simple and convenient.

Negative sentence

A negative sentence is a declarative sentence in which some information is refuted. Negation is constructed using the negative particle nicht. If this particle is at the end of a sentence, then you are denying the entire sentence.

For example:

Ich gehe ins Theater nicht. - I'm not going to the theater.
Er wohnt in England nicht. - He doesn't live in England.

If you want to refute only part of the sentence, the particle nicht must be placed before the negated part. Here's an example:

Ich gehe nicht ins Kino. - I'm not going to the cinema.

Er wohnt nicht in England. - He does not live in England.

Incentive offer

The main purpose of an incentive offer is to encourage action. Incentive sentences begin with a verb and are constructed as follows:

Sagen Sie bitte! - Tell me please!

Geh mit mir! - Come with me!

We will look at the rules for forming incentive sentences in more detail over the course of several lessons. In the meantime, try to do a few simple exercises.

Lesson assignments

Exercise 1. Put the words in the correct order to make a declarative sentence.

1. gehe/ich/ins Kino
2. Sie/Milch/kauft
3. spielen/wir/zusammen
4. bin/Anna/ich
5. er/Tom/heißt
6. in Russland/wir/wohnen

Exercise 2. Make up questions for the sentences from Exercise 1.

Exercise 3. Make up negative sentences.

1. Ich liebe dich.
2. Sie trinkt Tee.
3. Wir sprechen Deutsch.
4. Er spielt Basketball.
5. Du bist stark.
6. Ich tanze germen.

Answer 1:

1. Ich gehe ins Kino.
2. Sie kauft Milch.
3. Wir spielen zusammen.
4. Ich bin Anna.
5. Er heißt Tom.
6. Wir wohnen in Russia

1. Gehst du ins Kino?
2. Kauft sie Milch?
3. Spielen wir zusammen?
4. Bist du Anna?
5. Heißt er Tom?
6. Wohnen wir in Russland?

1. Ich liebe dich nicht.
2. Sie trinkt tee nicht.
3. Wir sprechen Deutsch nicht.
4. Er spielt Basketball nicht.
5. Du bist stark nicht.
6. Ich tanze germn nicht.

The German (German) language, like the Germans themselves, loves clear rules. To correctly compose a simple German. sentence (sentence) you only need to follow a few rules.

In him. sentence There are two main members of the sentence that are required: subject and predicate(tale): Man tanzt. - They are dancing. Er schläft. - He's sleeping. Es schneit. - Snowing.

German tale always contains a verb (verb), but in translation it does not always appear in order to avoid tracing: Sie ist Studentin. - She is a student. Ich bin 22 Jahre alt. - I am 22 years old.

Depending on the type of sentence. ( narrative, interrogative (question), incentive sentence.) the predicate occupies a certain place: Tim liest das Buch. Tim is reading a book. Hast du Geschwister? - Do you have any brothers or sisters? Gib mir bitte deinen Bleistift! - Give me your pencil please!

IN simple german sentence, which has a narrative character, a conjugated verb. always comes in second place: Ich mache eine Hausaufgabe. – I do homework. Monika hilft

ihrer Mutter. Monica helps her mother.

If the subject comes first, then in the sentence. direct word order: Wir gehen am Abend in die Disko. - We are going to a disco in the evening. Er spielt Tennis um 17 Uhr. – He plays tennis at 17 o’clock.

If the subject comes after the verb, then this word order is called reverse. In this case, some minor member of the sentence comes first: Am Abend gehen wir in die Disko. - In the evening we go to a disco. Um 17 Uhr spielt er Tennis. – At 17 o’clock he plays tennis.

In simple it. sentence The conjugated form of a verb can also be part of a compound predicate. Another, unconjugated form of tale. (or just part of a verb) is in the last place of the sentence: Du hast schon diesen Film gesehen. – You’ve already seen this film. Ich muss noch mein Zimmer aufräumen. – I still have to clean my room. Die suppe wurde gekocht. - The soup is cooked.

Interrogative sentences are divided into two types:

1. question sentence with question in a word;

2. question sentence no question words.

In the first version, the word order is as follows: question. word, spoken word, subject, minor members of the sentence. (if there are any): Wo wohnst du? - Where do you live? Was ist deine Mutter von Beruf? – Who is your mother’s profession?

In question sentence no question word conjugated verb. comes at the beginning of a sentence. The subject comes immediately after the verb: Kannst du mir helfen? - Can you help me? Hast du schon deine Oma be sucht? – Have you already visited your grandmother? Studiert er Deutsch? – Is he studying German?

Incentive sentence expresses an order, request, wish, advice, prohibition and command. In these sentences The forms most often used are Imperative and verb. comes first: Zeigen Sie mir bitte diesen Anzug! – Show me this suit, please! Geh an die Tafel! - Go to the board! Helft den Alten! - Help the old people!

Position of minor members of the sentence. is relatively free. Simple German sentence structured in such a way that it begins with known information and moves on to unknown information: Inge fehlte heute wegen einer Erkältung. – Inga was absent today due to a cold.

The grammar of the German language is somewhat more complex compared to related languages ​​of the Romano-Germanic group. Take, for example, the declension of nouns or gender, which is not found in English. The concept of “word order” exists in almost all languages, only in some cases we are dealing with a free arrangement of words in a sentence, in others there is a certain pattern.

According to the purpose of the statement, the German sentence is divided into 3 types:

1. Narrative (Aussagesatz).
2. Interrogatives (Fragesatz).
3. Incentive (Imperativsatz).

Word order in a German sentence

In a German sentence, there are 2 types of word arrangement. Characteristic of a German sentence is the obligatory presence of both main members: both the subject (Subjekt) and the predicate, Prädikat (there are exceptions, but this should be discussed separately).

Option one: the main sentence is in the first position, the second part follows it. In such a case, a common word order scheme has next view:

• the main clause has a word order similar to the simple sentence;
• subordinate clause: immediately after the comma is placed + subject + minor members + (negation, if any) + non-species. part of the predicate + sp. part of the predicate.

Detachable attachments do not separate. If the predicate is expressed in a subordinate clause, then the particle sich in the required form is placed immediately after the conjunction, and only after it comes the subject.

If the order of the sentences changes and the main sentence fades into the background, then it begins with the ad. parts of the predicate, because the subordinate clause, coming first, plays the role of one of the main members of the sentence.

Sentences in German are units of speech that consist of individual lexical units (words) arranged in them in a strictly defined order. Using intonation highlighting and varying word order, individual words can be highlighted to emphasize their special importance and significance for revealing the topic of the statement. Here it is necessary to make a reservation that in German the stress cannot fall on function words; only significant words can be emphasized intonationally. The peculiarity of the German language is great importance correct placement of words within one sentence. If in the Russian language one intonation can completely change the meaning of an entire sentence, then in the German language the role of intonation expression is disproportionately weaker, it is much more standardized.

When constructing a simple declarative sentence German verb always takes second place if expressed in one word. If a complex predicate consisting of two verbs is used, then its second part (semantic) goes to the end of the sentence. In an interrogative sentence, a simple verb can occupy both first and second place if a question word is used. The same rule determines the place of a complex verb when expressing a question, while the semantic verb will always occupy the last place.

For example:

Ich koche verschiedene suppen. - II'm cookingvarioussoups.

Ichmuss ihreMeinungakzeptieren . - I have to agree with her opinion.

Braucht ihr neue Kugelschreiber? - To youneedednewballpens?

Wer braucht meine Hilfe? - To whomneededmyhelp?

Darf ich morgen etwas später commen? - Canto mecomeTomorrowa little- a littleLater?

Wer möchte diesen Text nacherzählen? - Whowantsretellthistext?

In negative sentences the particle is most often used nothing, taking the place immediately before the word that is being negated. When a predicate is negated, the negative particle goes to the very end of the sentence. A noun is negated by a negative pronoun kein, which in this case takes the place of the article. A significant difference between the German language and the Russian language is the impossibility of double negation in a sentence.

Ich habe nothing alle Vorträge gelesen. - IreadNotAllreports.

Du hast die Aufgabe nothing ordentlich gemacht. - YouNotthoroughlycompletedexercise.

Ich kenne diesen Fahrer nothing. - INotI knowthisdriver.

Ich habe keine gravenFehlerfestgestellt. – I didn’t find any gross errors.

SeineArtundWeisezusprechenwerdeichnie vergessen - I will never forget his way of speaking (one negation in the German version versus two in Russian.)

There are a lot of sentences in the Russian language in which there is no verb at all - it is only implied. A peculiarity of the German language is its obligatory presence in a sentence in the form of a connecting element - it is called a “linking verb”.

For example:

Das ist eine ganz tolle Mannschaft! - This is just a great team!

SeinNachbarist Lokomotivführer. – His neighbor is a train driver.

The order of words in a sentence can be direct (with the classical subject coming first) or reverse (with the subject after the verb). The place in the sentence of its other members is not subject to strict standardization and in most cases is dictated by the meaning put into the sentence, although some rules must still be followed. It is precisely this reinforcing role that a change in word order (inversion) plays, which can radically change the conveyed meaning. Another purpose of inversion may also be the need to connect two sentences into a single whole.

For example:

ErhatdieselsGesprächaufgenommen. – He recorded (made an audio recording) this conversation.

Dieses Gespräch hat er aufgenommen. – He recorded this conversation (this one).

Im Sommer fahren wir nach Abchasien. DortbleibenwirbisEndeAugust. — In the summer we will go to Abkhazia. We will stay there until the end of August.

You can understand what a German subordinate clause is by looking at the following example diagram:

As you can see, a subordinate clause can appear either before or after the main clause.

In a subordinate clause the predicate is worth last. If the predicate is compound, then the conjugated part is in the very last place, and the unchangeable part is in front of it. The negation “nicht” comes before the predicate. Detachable attachments do not separate. The subject comes immediately after the conjunction.

You can see the word order in a German subordinate clause in this diagram:

Thus, it is very important to remember that the predicate comes at the end of the predicate sentence. The predicate is most often a verb. The inflected and conjugated parts appear when, for example, we have a modal verb. Ich kann kommen. kann - conjugated part, kommen - unchangeable part.

There are a few types of subordinate clauses. Below we provide a table of types of subordinate clauses, which includes introductory words(conjunctions, pronouns), followed by the above-described word order in the subordinate clause.

Main types of subordinate clauses:

1) Reasons:

Ich komme nicht, weil ich krank bin. I won't come because I'm sick/sick.

Ich mache das Fenster auf, da es mir zu heiß ist. I'll open the window because I'm too hot.

2) Goals:

Ich lerne Deutsch, damit ich eine gute Arbeit finden kann. I'm learning German so I can find a good job.

Ich arbeite viel, damit meine Kinder alles haben. I work hard to ensure that my children have everything.

If characters in the main and subordinate clauses coincide, then you can use a phrase with um... zu:

damit ich Deutsch lerne. I came to Germany to learn German.

Ich bin nach Deutschland gekommen, um Deutsch zu lernen. I came to Germany to learn German.

3) Conditions:

Wenn es morgen nicht regnet, gehen wir in die Berge. If it doesn't rain tomorrow, we'll go to the mountains.

Falls Sie Kinder haben, bekommen Sie eine Ermäßigung. If you have children, you will receive a discount.

4) Time:

Wenn du nach Hause kommst, ruf mich bitte an. When you get home, please call me.

Während ich arbeite, sind meine Kinder im Kindergarten. While I work, my children are in kindergarten.

Als ich acht war, habe ich das Schwimmen gelernt. When I was eight years old, I learned to swim.

Seitdem ich in Moskau wohne, habe ich immer einen guten Job. Since I live in Moscow, I always have a good job.

Wir haben noch eine Stunde Zeit, bis die Gäste kommen. We still have an hour before the guests arrive.

Sobald du fertig bist, fangen wir an. As soon as you are ready, we will begin.

Bevor ich einkaufen gehe, schreibe ich mir immer eine Einkaufsliste. Before I go shopping, I always write myself a shopping list.

Nachdem ich die Prüfung bestanden habe, kann ich mich erholen. After I have passed the exam, I can rest.

5) Places and directions:

Ich möchte wissen, wo wir sind. I would like to know where we are.

Ich weiß nicht, wohin dieser Weg fuhrt. I don't know where this road leads.

6) Concessions:

Obwohl es regnet, gehe ich spazieren. Even though it's raining, I'll go for a walk.

7) Comparisons:

Je mehr Geld ich verdiene, desto mehr Steuern muss ich bezahlen. The more money I make, the more taxes I owe/have to pay.

Sie sprechen besser Deutsch, als wir erwartet haben. You speak German better than we expected.

8) Additional subordinate clause:

Man sagt, dass Benzin bald wieder teurer wird. They say that gasoline prices will soon rise again.

Können Sie mir bitte sagen, wie dieses Gerät funktioniert? Can you tell me how this device works?

Ich weiß noch nicht, ob ich morgen ins Schwimmbad gehe. I don't know yet whether I'll go to the pool tomorrow.

9) Determinative subordinate clause:

Ich möchte einen Mann heiraten, der mich immer verstehen wird. I want to marry a man who will always understand me.

Ich möchte eine Frau heiraten, die mich nie betrügen wird. I want to marry a woman who will never cheat on me.

Ich möchte ein Kind haben, das mich niemals enttäuschen wird. I want to have a child who will never disappoint me.

Ich möchte diesen Film sehen, von dem alle sprechen. I would like to see this movie that everyone is talking about.

And here are those unions that DO NOT INFLUENCE on the word order of the sentence they enter:und, aber, denn, oder, sondern

The word order after these conjunctions is exactly the same as in the main clause: the conjugated part of the predicate is in second place.

Er antwortete sicher, denn er hatte sich auf die Prufung gut vorbereitet.
He answered confidently because he had prepared well for the exam.

Ich habe keine Zeit, und ich gehe nicht zum Fußball.
I don't have time and I won't go to football.

Exercise: Insert suitable conjunctions

1) ...du willst, begleite ich dich nach Hause.

2) Ich muss viel arbeiten,... ich genug Geld habe.

3) ... ich krank bin, muss ich meine Arbeit erledigen.

4) Ich weiß nicht,... wir machen sollen.

5) ... du das nicht machst, rede ich nicht mehr mit dir.

6) Ich gehe nach Hause,... ich müde bin.